Phantasiestucke Op. 12

Two years after Carnaval, Schumann’s engagement to Fraulein Ernestine was over. His attentions now devolved briefly on Anna Robena Laidlaw, a talented and beautiful Scottish pianist. In her honor he composed eight Phantasiestücke Op. 12 (1837). Schumann’s dual personalities come through in clear alternation throughout the pieces, especially in the contrast between the interior dreams of Eusebius (Nos. 1 and 3) and the fiery rhetoric of Florestan (Nos. 2 and 4). Indeed, the sentiment of No. 3, “Warum?” (Why?) might be regarded as an apt motto for the Eusebian aspect as a whole: wherefore all this passion? The penultimate number “Traumes Wirren” (Dream’s Confusion, No. 7) attempts to reconcile the opposing tendencies. With its simple ABA form, in which etude-like material encloses the reverential chords of section B, Schumann approximates Chopin’s Impromptu models. The wreath may be accorded to Eusebius in this round of the battle, as the mood of No. 1 and closing portions of No. 8 create an encapsulating frame of inner contemplation. Schumann’s dual nature motivates a great deal of the contrasts explored in other works, but the Phantasiestücke may be taken as the most thoroughgoing, overt presentations of that expressive dualism.

Schumann’s depiction of living personae through instrumental music may seem like an innocent prelude to Wagner’s comprehensive leitmotif strategy. But to someone of Schumann’s literary bent, the creation of entire works out of numerous epigrammatic character studies must have seemed like an essential breakthrough in form. He discovered a way forward after the tired sonata forms inherited from Viennese classicism, but also offered an adequate continuation of Beethoven’s episodic late style.

(c) Jason Stell